Chapter 6

Yvain awoke to a naked goddess squirming over him and caressing his sides, her cheek glued to his. Something felt different today. He couldn’t put his finger on what, but a wide grin threatened to split his face open as he hugged Nora deeper into his chest.

“Are we ever going to have normal sex?” she asked.

“Is what we’re doing not normal?” Yvain questioned back.

Nora rose to look at him, her captivating eyes making him gulp. “I guess I can’t really judge what’s normal or not. My only other partner was my late husband,” she said.

Yvain should have been relieved at her admittance. He might have before last night. At the moment though he was so out of his mind with contentment and joy that he couldn’t care less about Nora’s past partner.

“Did you ever call him master?” he asked.

Nora immediately covered his mouth with embarrassment.

“Forget I ever said that,” she said.

Her words told one thing, but Yvain could read the acceptance of her actions behind her reddening cheeks. Such a fact had him almost giggling as he said, “No way,” and pushed her hand aside easily by the wrist.

“Did you?” he asked again.

“No,” Nora said shyly.

Thank the stars, Yvain thought. He then spun along with Nora and lay on top of her, putting a hand next to each side of her head.

“Call me master,” he said.

“M-master,” Nora mumbled, looking away from him. It seemed that she didn’t notice how taken aback he was at how quickly she called him by such a name with a simple command. He expected at least some resistance.

Yvain held her chin and pulled her eyes back on him.

“Say it again,” he said.

“Master,” she said with more strength and a lovely sigh.

Yvain’s dick was already fully hard, but he didn’t want to move on to sex immediately.

“Why did you call me master yesterday?” he asked.

Nora wiggled underneath Yvain with indecision. She tested the limits of what she could do beneath him, but it was clearly futile. He had complete control over her body in face of her loss of strength. So, she bit her bottom lip and gave what could only be described as puppy eyes.

“Please don’t make me tell you,” she said.

“That only makes me want to know even more,” Yvain said with a laugh, “out with it.”

Seeing that there was no other option, Nora gave a sad huff and closed her eyes. Was it that difficult to talk about? Yvain had no way of knowing, and he was too enticed by the knowledge to care, practically holding his breath as he waited for her answer.

“It’s not that interesting or complicated really. I ... I just prefer it when my lover takes control in bed,” she said.

Yvain waited for more, but the goddess didn’t speak further.

“That may be,” he said and playfully pinched one of Nora’s nipples, making her whimper, “but it doesn’t explain why you felt compelled to call me master specifically and keep doing so even now.”

Small, theatrical snores came out of Nora’s nose as she pretended to be asleep so Yvain entertained himself with torturing her chest.

“Come on, your master is expecting an answer,” he said with an impish grin as the goddess twitched and feebly moaned.

Nora peaked at him with one of her golden eyes.

“A truthful and complete answer,” he said with mock severity.

The redhead closed her eye and visibly struggled with words stuck at her throat until she finally relented.

“Fine!” Nora said and moaned with another of Yvain’s squeezes.

He released her breasts and patiently held her visage. More specifically her kissable lips.

“I’m an empress, I’m a goddess,” she began, “everyone is always expecting something out of me and more. I don’t fault them for it. I myself feel the need to offer guidance and leadership to the best of my abilities. But it is tiring. More importantly it is emotionally exhausting.”

Yvain could sympathize with her struggles. Nelimir had given him similar words; not from experience, but from casual conversation about his princely studies and their content. Words that came true as time passed, and his friend had to face challenges none of the other members had to even think about. That’s why Yvain had never been interested in any type of ruling or managerial post. The expectations that came with the position sounded overall like a hassle.

“I couldn’t even have repose with my ex-husband who was self-centered at the best of times and narcissistic at worst. Sex was just another job I needed to complete for my subjects,” she said sadly.

Nora then lovingly looked at Yvain. “With you though ... excuse my wording, but you fuck me with seemingly no thought but the act. You don’t care for my titles and that in itself is liberating. I can just shut my mind off, allow you to take control, and have your way with me. There are no expectations other than our own pleasure.”

The goddess was turning herself on with her words and began to stroke Yvain’s dick.

“Last night though,” Nora said inside breathless thoughts, “I’ve never been so weak in my entire time here. No god or goddess is lower than Protos and the strongest are sheltered by outside powers from the very start. But you...” She had to stop and swallow, her eyes telling of a recounting of last night. “You took complete and utter control of me. I didn’t know how good it would feel. I wasn’t prepared for it. But in that moment, I wanted to offer every single string of my being to you and your glorious dick.”

Precum was already leaking out of Yvain’s enlarged head and falling on Nora’s stomach.

“Failure to do so felt like an afront,” Nora said as she scooped up some of the liquid and audibly licked it off her fingers while looking at him.

“When you slapped me, I had to do everything in my power to let you know that you owned me, my master,” she said and caressed Yvain’s cheeks.

He owned her? Yvain had to pause and try to absorb such a concept. Everything had been making sense up until the end. Nora wasn’t one to allow others to demean her. Her late ex-husband did so and paid for his actions. She was also highly regarded by her subjects. She would never let others simply ‘own’ her. Much less when her own daughter had been sold off as a slave.

Did she then mean that he owned her during sex and sex only? Which were the lines that could and could not be crossed? They were blurred in the undercurrents of the conversation and he was too afraid to ask. He didn’t want to risk offending her as her ex-husband had done countless times. There was one simple truth he could hold on to for guidance though. He just needed to keep being himself.

“Do you want to be my girlfriend?” Yvain asked.

Nora’s hand, that had been on his cheek, recoiled by reflex and hung still in the air.

“I don’t ... I mean, what do you...” With widened eyes the goddess made several attempts to speak but failed. Her body remained rigid as she stared at Yvain.

“Is that a no?” Yvain asked with a tightened chest. Nora’s broken words had all pointed at a negative reaction, but he had to make sure. It wouldn’t be surprising if it really was a no though. This was his first time attempting anything like this, so he wasn’t confident it was the correct way to do things. It’s just that ... considering they had already proclaimed their love for each other he might as well ask.

“Yes,” Nora said in a barely audible whisper.

“What was that?” Yvain asked.

“Yes!” the goddess said as she fully burst into tears, completely bewildering Yvain.

“Why in the stars are you crying again!?” he asked.

Nora held her hands to her chest as she bawled herself hoarse. “F-forgive me,” she said as her shoulders shook, “I’m just so happy.”

Yvain scratched his cheek. “I guess I don’t need to worry then?” he thought and allowed the full joy of her answer wash over him.

Closing the distance between them, he kissed the lovable woman beneath him. Her hands remained pressed under him as he parted her mouth open and finally tasted her new tongue.

Nora for her part didn’t hold back at all and pushed her full appendage against him. Being careful not to go too far in and make him gag, she wrapped her tongue around his and mixed movements that felt like licking and sucking all at once with just the thin member.

It felt so good that it made the kiss almost taste sweet. Yvain violently tried to outmatch her in strength, if not dexterity, to some results and Nora began to pant along with him. She knew what he was going for and attempted to stop the inevitable.

A single stroke of the roof of her mouth is all it took to make her whole body rigid again; her nipples hardening against Yvain’s chest and eyes slightly rolling back.

The second stroke never came though.

“I can’t wait any longer,” Yvain said as he dislodged himself from Nora.

She confusedly looked at him as he got off the bed, pushed her head over the edge of the mattress, and aimed his dick at her mouth, immediately shoving the aching length inside.

“Show me what you can do with that tongue of yours,” he said.

Nora hummed happily, her lips beginning to constrict around his girth, when a loud berating banging exploded from the door.

Yvain tried to ignore it even though he already knew who it was. How nice would it be if that knocking went away on its own? He and Nora could fuck each other’s brains out all day.

He stood in place, dick inside Nora’s mouth, contemplating follies. The banging remained though. Only his lover’s taps on his thighs made him resign himself to his fate and pull back.

Nora righted her hanging head and sweetly looked at him while upside down with hands on her stomach.

“We’ll have more than enough time to explore each other later,” she said with a smile that reminded Yvain of sunflowers.

He took one last look at Nora from the tip of her toes to her horns and, dick hardening even more, went to answer the door.

“I will not be forced to cook break-” Elly began to say but stopped as she looked down and concealed all emotions, taking upon a deadpan expression that would give Roesia a run for her money.

“Just give me a minute,” Yvain said with exasperation. He had once more completely forgotten his duties in the guild due to the demands of Nora’s presence. It’s not like he enjoyed making others take over his workload.

Elly didn’t answer and just kept her eyes cast downward.

Yvain followed their trajectory, but only found his naked body. His dick was beginning to lose some of its hardness, but it was still glued to his stomach.

“Is something wrong?” he asked Elly.

His master shook herself, blinking away something in her eyes and spoke, “Just hurry up, I’m hungry.” She then turned for the empty table. None of the other members had left their rooms yet.

“I got it, I got it,” Yvain said and closed the door, intent on finishing his cooking as fast as possible and getting back to frolicking with Nora.

The couple were now in the guild’s kitchen. Its cabinets and countertops, all sporting the same wood design as the rest of the headquarters, were arranged along the left and back wall of the room, offering an open wide floor in the middle. Between these, a lit stone oven quietly roared, and a cast iron sink held discarded dishes one countertop apart from the stove. A door leading to the pantry was on the right with the trash compartment a bit farther away from it.

“She only eats vegetables?” Nora asked with intense curiosity as she watched Yvain set up an assortment of greens to be steamed—broccoli, carrots, potatoes.

“That’s right. It’s a wonder how she could be so muscular and tall while eating so little,” Yvain said as he also worked on a huge serving of pork that would be served to everyone else.

“Can you take the loafs out of the oven?” he asked.

Nora didn’t think about it twice and, sliding her tail against Yvain’s leg, turned for the magically powered contraption.

The appendage sent chills down Yvain’s spine, and then Nora sent the same cold waves by shoving her hands into the fires to grab the bread.

“What are you-!?” Yvain began, his heart jumping into his throat. But Nora calmly took out the baking pan with an innocent yet questioning smile.

“Where do you want me to put it?” she asked.

Yvain pointed next to him, scrutinizing Nora’s hands for any burns and blisters as she went to set the bread down.

“How is it possible for you to not get burned?” he asked. It had been the same back at the shower. Nora showed no discomfort when it came to heat.

The goddess didn’t show recognition at first and so Yvain pointed at her hands with a ‘that!’ jerk.

“Oh!” she exclaimed. “It’s a trait from our race, we’re really good with fire.”

That’s an understatement, Yvain thought. Even Roesia needed to be careful when controlling fire. He couldn’t imagine someone being able to just touch it with no repercussions. But that just demonstrated how different things could become outside the walls.

“Just give the others a heads up before you do something like that,” he said with a tight-lipped smile.

Nora slithered up onto Yvain’s side and exhaled into his ear, “Yes master.”

Every limb on his body was sapped of strength and he almost dropped the skillet while Nora giggled at his predicament.

“Just go set up the plates,” Yvain said wistfully. He would have her screaming soon enough.

Nora almost skipped as she happily grabbed the requested items and utensils, setting them all up just as Yvain finished preparations, allowing him to quickly pour a serving for every member. The goddess then went to grab the bread.

“That one back there is for Roesia,” he said.

“How so?” Nora asked.

“It’s filled with chocolate,” Yvain said matter-of-factly.

Nora stared at the loaf, “Are any other filled with it?”

“No, the rest don’t really enjoy sweets in the morning,” he said, then finished filling the plates.

After he put more dirty dishes into the sink, he found Nora still staring at Roesia’s loaf.

“Do you want one too?” he asked, amused. “I can make one more for you next time.”

Nora shook her head, “It’s alright.” She then began to set up bread for every plate, moving a bit slower on the chocolate filled one.

The couple then grabbed a plate in each hand, Yvain balancing the leftovers on his forearms, and took them to the living room.

“Finally!” Selt yelled with arms thrown into the air.

Roesia, who had her head down on the table, twitched with the kid’s loud voice. With a sigh she straightened up on her chair.

After everyone got their food, along with water to wash it down, Nora and Yvain took their respective seats and began to eat.

“Nelimir hasn’t woken up yet?” Yvain asked. Their leader’s plate sat in front of his chair, waiting to be consumed.

Elly shook her head as she brought a piece of broccoli to her mouth with decorum.

“I checked up on him after waking up and he was still asleep,” she said.

“Sorry, I should have mentioned it before. He’ll most likely be up by the afternoon,” Nora said. “The closer to nighttime we get the stronger the starlight around us becomes. It’ll propel him out of his condition.” The goddess ate in a similar manner as Elly but faster. Every few bites she would eye the bread sitting next to the rest of Roesia’s breakfast.

The sorceress was almost done with her own plate. Yvain was the only one who would make her the chocolate filled pastry, so whenever it was his turn to cook, she would almost swallow whole everything else to get to dessert.

“Done!” Selt once again screamed, scaring Roesia.

The girl maliciously eyed the kid as he ran to his room. Elly stopped him by the scruff of his neck though, barely changing position as she continued to consume her meal and he struggled in her grasp.

“Clean up your mess,” she said after swallowing.

Selt had many times in the past created a scene over similar circumstances. He quickly learned though that it would be more of a hassle to fight Elly’s order than it was to pick up after himself. With a groan and a pout, the kid did as told and almost ran to the kitchen as he took away his dishes. He then disappeared into his room.

“Thank the stars you’re here,” Roesia said. It was mostly futile to get Selt to do anything when it was anyone but Elly who told him off.

“What exactly is Nelimir’s condition?” Yvain asked.

“It’s a fairly common one all things considered,” Nora said. She took a bite out of the almost gone pork and swallowed. “It has different names depending on who you ask. I call it Star Wonder.”

Roesia finished her breakfast and grabbed the loaf, bringing it up to her nose and smelling it before exhaling contently. Nora spaced out for a second as she watched the girl breaking the bread in half to reveal steam and melted chocolate.

“It ... entails starlight poisoning,” she said. “Easy to occur when you can’t feel that you’re slowly dying. Even those with decades of experience have been known to fall prey to it.”

Roesia set one half down on the plate and blew into the other before biting down. The corner of her eyes became wet as the splash of colors hit her taste buds and she chewed in pure bliss.

Yvain and Elly were already done eating and waited for Nora to finish her explanation. The goddess remained enthralled by the delicious pastry though. Longing and dismay dueling as Roesia finished the first half.

“Can you share some of it with Nora?” Yvain asked the sorceress.

“Yvain!” Nora said as she swiveled her head toward him.

Roesia innocently looked at the couple and said, “Sure,” while still chewing her last bite. Her eyes then slightly widened, and she grew unnaturally still, opting to look to her side after swallowing and licking her lips.

“Sorry,” the sorceress said with a mild tremble as Elly gave her a sharp and warning look. Shaking off her nervousness, she grabbed the other half of the loaf and handed it to Nora with a smile.

“Enjoy,” she said.

Nora shifted in her seat uncomfortably and coughed into her hand as she grabbed the offered treat. It was still warm enough that some steam remained, the smell of chocolate wafting out.

“Thanks,” she said shyly.

Yvain looked on, amused at how modest his lover was being.

Nora took a tentative bite with eyes closed. Her brow furrowed as she slowly chewed the morsel of bread and chocolate.

“Oh stars it’s so good,” she said. When she opened her eyes, just like Roesia, they had tears accumulated on them. Actual tears then streamed down her cheeks. Small thuds came from her tail hitting the chair while swinging from side to side.

Is she a dog? Yvain thought.

“Don’t be so melodramatic,” Elly said with an eyeroll.

“She’s not!” Roesia said, and in an unusual display of violence hit Elly on the arm. Though it could be described as more of a tap. Still, the large woman raised an eyebrow at the girl which went on to be ignored.

“I’m happy you enjoy it,” Roesia said with a grin.

Nora nodded happily and said, “We actually don’t have chocolate where I’m from. Well, no sweets really. They’re forbidden.” The goddess went on to wolf down the whole thing in two or three bites, liking her fingers when there was nothing left.

“That’s no way to live,” Roesia said, looking horrified. She extended her hands and grabbed on to Nora’s forcefully.

“I’ll share all my sweets with you from now on,” she said emotionally.

At least they’re getting along, Yvain thought. Though Roesia wasn’t exactly difficult to approach. Elly of course wanted no part of the current bonding going on.

“If we’re all done here, then let’s get down to business,” she said. Nelimir’s food had already gone cold. Since their leader was out of commission, command fell on Yvain’s master next.

“Yvain and I will be training all day,” she said. “Roesia and Nora, you’re free to do as you please. Tomorrow we’ll be arriving at Triven, that is all.” Elly then stood and took her dishes into the kitchen. When she came back, she made a motion with her head for Yvain to follow her before going to her room.

Everything happened so fast that Yvain sat in place looking from his master to Nora. He had completely forgotten. Today was the beginning of the week. In other words, so did Elly’s and his customary routine start. Something inconsequential until Nora came into the picture. His dick almost twisted in anger at the coming depravation of her pussy and mouth.

“Stars damn all,” he said under his breath.

“Actually, Nora, I was thinking that we could start work on the potion,” Roesia said. “Care to join me?”

“Of course,” Nora said. She seemed to understand Yvain’s woes and with a sly smirk slid her hand over his rod, squeezing it before standing to leave with the sorceress.

It went without saying that Roesia was oblivious to all of this.

Yvain watched on in despondency as the two left with their own plates and glasses. Was Nora swinging her ass more than usual? He couldn’t tear his eyes off of the goddess until she was well out of view.

“Am I going to have to drag you?” Elly’s head appeared from behind her door before going into the room again.

Stars damn all, Yvain thought as he mentally prepared himself for the coming training.

If Yvain only knew how much Nora currently needed him, he would have probably forced her upon the table face down and fucked her from behind. At least, that’s what she fantasized would happen.

Everything she had told him in the morning was true. What she didn’t tell him was how truly all-encompassing his hold over her had become. Or maybe she just didn’t know how to tell him. Would ‘I love you’ or ‘master’ be enough to have him understand the change that occurred last night? She doubted it. Either way, it was something she didn’t know how to put into words.

All that mattered was that Nora was glad it was Yvain.

Mitrel would have killed to have that sort of control over her, and she’d rather be dead before going through something like that. Her ex-husband would have never even done something like asking her to be his girlfriend.

Though to be fair that’s just a human costume, Nora thought with a warm smile as she reminisced about the events of just an hour or so ago. Yvain had looked so nervous.

“What do you think?” Roesia asked as she spread her arms, trying to encompass her room with her lean arms and pride.

This was the smallest room Nora had been to yet. Nelimir’s office was just a tad bigger, following the kitchen that was connected to it. Neither of which were bigger than Yvain’s or Elly’s rooms.

“I’m surprised it’s this small,” Nora said.

Despite its size though, it was very cluttered. A small bed rested in a far-off corner while mountain of books covered it and its surroundings. More books lay discarded across the floor along with papers containing writings and schematics. How the sorceress could walk through here was a wonder.

“I prefer it like this,” Roesia said. “Everything is easily in range.” She then walked to the back as Nora took in more details.

Unlike other parts of the headquarters, this one had a peculiar blue light that soothed her nerves. It wasn’t conductive to reading though, so how did the sorceress conduct her business? There wasn’t a desk either, did she just write on the floor? Nora also felt compelled to see what was behind the door on the left that she guessed led to the bathroom but didn’t want to offend. Was it like the one in Yvain’s room?

A series of knocks brought her attention back to Roesia. A hidden door opened in front of the sorceress as she beckoned for Nora to follow her.

“Oh my,” Nora said. She wasn’t averse to hidden passages, but she didn’t expect to go through one in here.

“Don’t tell the others about this,” Roesia said as both women went down a flight of stairs.

“They don’t know?” Nora asked. “Why show it to me?” At the bottom, a bigger room awaited them. This one was organized and answered her doubt on the sorceress capability to operate.

It had everything one would guess a brewer of potions to have like vials and tools of all shapes and sizes that were set along a long desk and wall. The picture of a male and female human body was pinned in front of a separate desk which contained a comfy looking chair much too big for the woman in front of Nora.

Roesia turned to Nora with a rueful smile. “I’ll admit I wasn’t too thrilled about the idea at first. But as someone who can appreciate the delicacies of sweets, you have brushed away my misgivings.”

That’s it? Nora thought. Her words unexpectedly hit like a punch to the gut. A sudden wave of tears threatened to escape the starchild. She had to do everything in her power to stop them, lest another bout of all out crying began.

It was apparent that the sorceress had not been marred by the grime of life. She detested fighting, cried at the slightest push, sympathized easily with others. She probably held everyone in her eyes without questioning their nature. It was refreshing to say the least. But most importantly, those pair of eyes that held a clear sheen to them reminded Nora of Charlotte in the early years.

“How old are you, Roesia?” she asked.

“I’ll be twenty-one next month,” she said amicably. “You?”

Nora raised an index finger to her lips, indicating for the sorceress to not tell anyone, “I’ll be twenty-one next month too.”

Roesia’s mouth hung open as she dazedly looked Nora up and down. “But ... you’re so...” the sorceress didn’t finish her words.

Nora knew what she was trying to say though and laughed. “I know. Starchildren don’t really choose their appearance or gender when they’re born.”

“I assume by starchildren you mean those Nelimir has become completely obsessed about?” Roesia said.

“That’s correct,” Nora said.

“Fascinating,” the sorceress said, holding her chin, “I’ll admit, I almost went down the same rabbit-hole as him, but as soon as I found out that these beings could be part of any race, be it human or beast, I lost interest.”

“How so?” Nora asked.

“It’s simple, they’re not a race in and of itself,” the sorceress said and moved to her workstation as if the question needed no more elaboration.

Nora didn’t disagree with the woman though, Starchildren weren’t a race. It was just easier to call it so for the sake of discussion. Even the word was just a defense mechanism given to them in order to fit in better with mortal society. It could be considered an inherent instinct. That Roesia could say something like ‘they’re not a race’ so offhandedly was incredible to her.

The sorceress grabbed a pair of scissors and came back to where Nora waited, becoming increasingly nervous the closer she got.

“Umm...” the sorceress began, “you don’t mind if I cut a part of your hair, right?”

“You need it for your work, correct?” Nora asked to which Roesia nodded with relief.

“Here,” Nora said and presented a tuft of her beautiful vermillion hair. The mane had been a point of pride in the past, but it was something far from her concerns now.

Roesia eagerly went for a cut, but before she closed the sharp knives together, she stopped.

“Maybe I should get Elly for this,” she said, her cute features turning to worry.

Nora looked at the sorceress confusedly.

“I don’t have any ability when it comes to styling hair, I’ll make a mess of yours,” Roesia said. “Elly always does mine perfectly. She might not seem like it, but she’s way more ladylike than I am.” The sorceress didn’t seem at all bothered by such a fact.

“I don’t mind how it comes out,” Nora said reassuringly.

“But ... what about Yvain?” Roesia said. “I don’t have much experience myself, but I assume you want to impress him, right?”

Nora hadn’t thought about that. Her and Yvain’s relationship had felt so natural and had come so fast that she hadn’t given any thought as to how he might look at her. She knew for sure that he was attracted to her body, but from the beginning she had either been bloody, wearing someone else’s misfitting clothing, or naked. She hadn’t even worn make up in weeks.

Nora slowly pulled back her hair.

“You are correct,” she said.

Roesia nodded as if it was obvious and walked past Nora, going up the stairs.

“Come on, it’s just a simple cut, it won’t take even a minute,” she said.

Clashing sounds and grunts came out of Elly’s room. Master and apprentice were into the full swing of their training. Nora was curious as to what that looked like and how it compared to hers and her subjects’, but for now she opted to stand behind the sorceress, intent on letting her do all of the talking.

Roesia only gave a few soft knocks that should have been drowned out, but the fighting immediately stopped with footsteps following the silence.

A glistening Elly, wearing her usual skimpy armor, appeared. Yvain was standing between the row of dummies drying his sweat with a towel and Nora tried to get his attention with her eyes, but he was clearly too focused on what he was doing. It kind of displeased her, but she wasn’t going to interrupt.